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Tate Multimedia has just announced its latest title, Steel Rats. At its core, Steel Rats is a high-octane motorcycle action game. What sets this 2.5D experience apart from others is its unique retro-futuristic art style. I had a chance to play the game recently and was impressed by how it is progressing so far.

Steel Rats takes place in a “Dieselpunk” world inspired by 1940’s and 50’s Americana. The game’s heroes are the titular Steel Rats, who are defending their hometown of Coastal City against an invading army of automatons called junkbots. The demo I played featured four selectable characters. Though each one rides on top of a monstrous motorcycle, they all have unique weapons that make them feel distinct. There was only one playable level, but it gave me a good idea of what to expect from the full release.

Being a 2.5D game, I was able to move my motorcycle up, down left and right. Using the bike’s front wheel saw blade allowed me to gain additional speed. Best of all, the saw blade slices through robots, cars, and even lets you cling to vertical walls. Since the game is physics-based, it did take some getting used to. For example, pulling the analog stick back too far would cause my bike to flip over. Once I got a feel for things, I was zipping through levels picking up collectibles and shooting up robots.

I only got to play a single level, but it had multiple paths to explore. In that way, it was almost like playing three levels in one. The lower parts of the level had me racing through war-torn streets and abandoned subway tunnels. High above, I drove across rooftops littered with multiple ramps to jump across. I liked the upper part of the level the most since its dark blue skies were a nice contrast to the orange-hued streets below. These sort of multi-tiered levels certain give Steel Rats a great deal of replay value.

Steel Rats‘ music is composed by Japanese Rock trio, ‘The 5.6.7.8’s’. This is the same group that performed the song Woo Hoo for Kill Bill Volume 1. The game also features a remastered version of their track, Hoovering. What’s neat about this song is that it was recorded in the Parisian “Midilive Studios.” This is the same studio where music for movies like Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Taken were recorded.

Games like Steel Rats may not be massive AAA epics, but they are great for delivering short, enjoyable experiences. Even though it is a smaller game, its multi-tiered stages and customizable characters and motorcycles mean players can potentially sink tons of hours into it. Also, it’s just a pure blast to tear robots into pieces while driving around on top of a massive motorcycle.

Steel Rats will release sometime in 2018 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. For more information, make sure to check out the official Steel Ratswebsite and Facebook page.